By Brienne

Tutorial: Stasia Dress-Turned-Romper

Hey there! So, the last time I posted here was in April of 2016. It's been awhile. I've kept this space open with the hope of returning to it one day. And today I've got something to share! 

I've been following Meg McElwee for what I think has been near a decade. Her son, Finn is my son's age and I discovered her blog alongside SouleMama's  when I was pregnant with my first. He's eight now. I learned about Montessori education, peaceful parenting and about Squam Art Workshops from these women.

Meg had dropped out of the scene a bit over the last couple of years and so had I. I stopped blogging. But I started using Instagram more. I kept up with Meg's Instagram posts whenever they came around. I was thrilled when she started releasing patterns again. And when she released the Stasia Dress, I caught the fever. Stasia is a fitted dress with a swingy skirt, made using knit fabrics. It has a flattering scoop neckline. The seam for the skirt hits cleverly at the most narrow part of your natural waist. You'll feel like a goddess while you're wearing it. 

I made a couple of versions last summer; monkeying with the waistline and the fit a bit until I got it just right. You can find all of my earlier versions on my Instagram page. When fall rolled around and the temperatures up here by the big lake started to drop, I wanted to make a cooler weather version and began scheming a way to make the Stasia Dress into a romper. 

It turns out that it's not that hard to do! Add a crotch seam by tracing the seam from a high-waisted pair of pants, add a bit of length to the legs to compensate for the fabric pulled up by making the new seam and you'll find yourself in romper-heaven! Here's how I did it...

First, you'll need the front, maxi skirt piece from the Stasia Dress pattern. I had mine printed at PDF plotting, which I'd highly recommend in order to avoid printing and taping together the many pages that it takes to make a maxi skirt. Meg has a tutorial for using this service here. 

 You should plan on using some fabric that you're not precious about, but that is similar to what you'll eventually use for your romper to make a muslin. 

At first, I altered both the back skirt piece and the front skirt piece. Technically, that's a good idea because the back waist and front waist are slightly different on the pattern pieces AND you'll find that on your ready-to-wear pants, the back crotch seam is slightly longer than the front crotch seam to account for the curve of our bottoms. However, the Stasia dress front and back skirts turn out to be different lengths when the crotch seam is added. If you use the front and back pieces, at the hem of the romper pants, the back of the pants will be longer than the front and it's just a mess. So - I decided to just use the front of the skirt pattern for both the front and back of the romper as shown here. Yes, I use antlers that my grandpa found in the woods as pattern weights. 

 Because the waist of the dress is high compared to most of my ready-to-wear pants and skirts, I used a pair of high-waisted pants to draft the crotch seam. If you use a pair of pants to draft the seam that are not high-waisted, that's fine but you'll want to make sure that the length of the rise is plenty long so that the seam doesn't crawl up in an unsightly way. Decide where you want the seam to fall (how long you want the rise to be) and don't forget to add 1/4" on either end (1/2" total) for the seam allowance. The rise, from the skirt waistline on the pattern piece to the bottom of the curved line (crotch seam line) that I drew was 14.5."

It's likely that you'll need to add some length to your skirt pieces for this alteration. Adding the curved, crotch seam will pull the fabric up, making the legs shorter than they would have been on the skirt. I added three inches to the length of the skirt piece. I added this length about about 15" above the hem line - NOT where the pattern piece says to add length. If I would have added length where the pattern piece indicates to, it would have affected the crotch seam that I was drafting and I didn't want to do that. Also, wherever you add length, you'll be adding a bit of width to get the diagonal line to match up and I didn't want to add volume or width to the hips. 

Fold the pants that you'll use to draft the crotch seam in half with the front side out and lay them on the front skirt pattern piece.

Using a pencil, roughly trace the curve. You're drafting a crotch seam. Terminate the line for the crotch seam by angling it slightly towards the center line before you get to the waist line on the pattern. Don't monkey with the cutting line for the waist.

 Now, use a curved ruler like the one shown here or the curve on your iron or anything that you have around to help you to get a nice, clean curve. One of the keys to sewing a good looking garment is to do good, clean cutting. Make yourself a nice looking line to cut on. The finished garment will look much better if you take the time to trace and cut carefully first. 

 

Cut out your pattern pieces as instructed. EXCEPTION: You'll be cutting out FOUR front maxi skirt pattern pieces (with the new crotch seam that you drafted and the length added) instead of cutting out two front maxi skirt pieces and two back maxi skirt pieces. 

Follow the dress construction instructions. Where the instructions say: 

" 2. Stitch Center Front and Center Back Skirt Seams and Attach Bodices

a. Place skirt front pieces right sides together matching center raw edges and notches. Pin and stitch

center seam." You'll put the pant front pieces right sides together and just stitch the curve that you drafted. DO NOT stitch down the legs. 

Continue to assemble the romper using the dress instructions. The last seam that you'll sew, after sewing up the side seams and under the arms, is the leg seam. Sew from one inner leg to the other, matching up the crotch seams and pivoting where they meet. 

I didn't hem my legs. Sometimes I can be crazy like that. But you SHOULD if it feels good. Have a blast in your new Stasia romper! The fabric that I used for this romper is a scuba knit from Shop LaMercerie. 

 

Knitting: The Glow Sweater

Hey, hi! Wanna talk sweaters? I've been knitting a bunch this year. Some for me, some for others. And I just finished this sweater from a kit that I got from We Are Knitters.  I'm feeling all gushy and electric about it. I frequently knit up things that I feel cozy in but cozy, soft knits that make me feel all girly and glamorous? Those are few and far between. 

You wouldn't guess it from my facial expression, but I am thrilled with the result of this knitting, just woefully short on skills when it comes to getting my photo taken. Let's work on this for next time, alright darlin'? 

This is the Waffle Sweater from We are Knitters and it comes with everything you need including: the pattern, yarn, wooden knitting needles, a tapestry needle, garment tag and a recyclable project bag.

I was a little intimidated when I first received the package. The wool and needles were beautiful and my gauge worked up just fine but the pattern was one size fits all. It made me a little nervous. Then, though, I loosened up, considered the measurements and the elasticity of the stitch pattern and dove in. 

Naturally, as is my custom, I made a couple of modifications to the pattern. I decided to use a tubular cast-on for the hem to provide a more loose, professional looking finish. I made the wrong side right so that the ribbed part would face out instead of the waffle-y part and incorporated these blaze yellow shoulder patches to kick up the grey a bit. 

I split the hem too. The whole thing knit up so fast and will make the perfect cozy spring sweater with just a little bit of sass. 

We are Knitters  has generously offered to give YOU 15% off of the purchase of one of their kits. Just use the code: BRIENNEWAK to get the discount at checkout. Hooray for springtime knits! 

Vital Knits

I've been knitting feverishly. And I mean that both literally and figuratively. I'd like not to dwell on it too much but sheesh we have been sick this winter. The fevers of mine and, more often, those of my young wards has meant lots of time to knit. 

In January, when we got home from the West Coast, I hopped on the Sunday Sweater Knitalong and stitched up a bulky, cabled number by Brooklyn Tweed in just three weeks. I finished a test knit in fingering weight, a sweater for my daughter and  a running beanie . It was an epic knitting month! 

Just before we left for our trip, I completed the Bough Hat, also by Brooklyn Tweed, which we've talked about. But I also finished this Magnolia Cardigan in December during a battle with the stomach flu. 

I heard the phrase "vital knit" from the intrepid knitter Karen Templer. And I could think of no better phrase to describe this particular sweater. I hesitated with it for months - the knitting is repetitious, the color plain. The fabric is a triumph, though, made from fingering weight wool:  Quince and Co's Finch . It has a beautiful bit of drape with just enough wooly life in it to give it a bit of rusticity (I'm pretty sure that I made that word up but you catch my drift, right?). This color and style suit my sense of fashion exactly. It is a wardrobe staple. 

I was ill and eager to finish in the end, so the button band is improvised and I didn't even add buttonholes. I just push the buttons through the fabric when it suits me. 

And yes, I've even slept in it. Which I'm hearing is odd - don't you sleep in your hand knits? This is probably as a result of my young adult life having been spent living in a tent with my boyfriend (now legal mate). Sleeping in wooly things was a neccessary antidote to the cold nights. 

I have more than a few knits in my closet that rest, unworn. And I'd like to explore this question of vital knits further. I love a stylish, textured knit but maybe I should save the wild techniques for accessories?

What are your vital knits? Do tell! And if you dig, share them on Instagram using Karen Templer's hashtag #vitalknits. 

Joining Frontier Dreams Readers today. 

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I'll be joining the Small Things Readers on Wednesday where knitters share both their works in progress and their books in progress. 

In terms of the written word, I just finished listening to Gone Girl (which I won't link to because it was the worst). I don't often read (or listen) to fiction so I was a little lost and chose this book because it was on the NY Times bestseller list. What a waste of time. It was violent, misogynistic and just plain awful. It made me feel sad to be a woman, sad to be raising a daughter in America. I'll leave it at that. 

On a lighter note, though, I cannot get enough of the Woolful Podcast. If you are a knitter and you're not listening, get on it! The interviews are distinct in their length and content. The guests are diverse and surprising. I always learn something new when I listen.

What are you reading or listening to?

My Fall Uniform: Boden Hack

Image Source. 

One of the most fun things about sewing is being able to re-create a look that you like based on ready-to-wear clothing. Earlier this fall, I spied this sweet top in Boden and was just about to press play on the old shopping cart when I realized: a) that I was unlikely to wear a top with deer on it (I'm boring like that) and b) that I could totally make this. 

I made it a couple of weeks ago, in honor of Selfish Sewing Week  but did not get around to photographing it until just now. 

It's just exactly the kind of top that a girl needs around here on the tundra. And it was pretty easy to make too. 

I used a scoopneck tee pattern to make the bodice and chopped it off just below my braline to make an empire waist. To draft the skirt, I used the leftover pattern piece (from the bottom of the scoopneck tee) and added two inches of width to the sides to make it slightly A line. I added two inches to the front skirt piece for gathering. 

From the center front on the skirt I measured five inches on either side and gathered just that portion. 

I narrowed the back bodice just slightly to perfect the fit. And I learned by mistake that the front and back bodices are different widths (duh), so I needed two pattern pieces for the skirt - one to match the width plus 2 for the front bodice piece and a second to match the back (narrower) bodice piece. 

I love it. Although, I am on the fence about the long top over jeans trend but - I think that trend is still a go... What do you think?  

Selfish Sewing: Silk Scout Tee

This is Grainline Studio's Scout Tee. 

I made it out of some silk in a faux bois print that I'd been hanging onto for a couple of years now. It could have used one more press before photos but I had a few minutes without my littles and the tee had already been languishing in the closet for a couple of weeks - plus a Sunday afternoon cocktail had me feeling like throwing caution to the wind and just modeling the dang thing already.

I really love this top. In fact, I think that I'll just go on ahead and sleep in it. The silk is super soft and although I think that the top would be a bit swimmery in a quilting weight woven, it does some really beautiful shape-shifitng in the silk. 

I've had Grainline's Alder Dress pattern on my cutting table since mid-summer and this was a good way to ease back into big girl garment making before taking the plunge on the big ol' dress. Have you seen Cherie's, though? Tis' a thing of beauty. 

Have you made it? Would you?

Does it Style? Wide Leg Pants.

Whew! Look, I'm sewing!!! I have been into the sewing room very little over the past month or so but I do have a very clean basement and freezer. Plus we are trying something new - eating at home (picture me cringing out of guilt). We were out and about a lot this summer and it took me a bit of effort to remember how this crew eats... Don't tell anybody, ok? That I didn't plant a garden this year and that we ate a lot of pizza and deep fried fish? Just, it'll be our little secret. 

I have been itching to sew some new clothes for myself, though. And, late-to-the-party as usual, I noticed that Selfish Sewing Week: Fall Edition starts tomorrow. These guys were almost finished except for the zipper and sitting on my sewing table just waiting to be buttoned up. 

"Will it Sew" is a concept that Meg of Elsie Marley is dealing with over on the Kids Clothes Week Facebook page. "Will it Work" is a concept that the intrepid Tara of Girl Like the Sea  often considers while testing new projects and detailing their progress on Instagram. Will it sew? Will it Work? Will it Style? These are all questions that I am perpetually aksing myself in the sewing room. And often, honestly, they keep me from sewing. 

These wide leg style trousers from Burda  are one of the first real garments that I made for myself, more than five years ago, just after I had my first bebe. I am whole-heartedly committed to the skinny leg trouser trend but I've noticed that Anthropologie and Pinterest users have started touting the wide-leggers again. I decided to give it another go. 

 

I used Robert Kaufman's Chambray with stretch that I got from Treadle. I decided to skip the sailor panel that goes on the front. It was a little too flamboyant for plain old me - the wide legs feel risky enough:) 

I used flat felled seams on the front panels and topstitched them. Can you see?

They're super comfy and an excellent fit around the waist and bottom. But I'm not totally sold on the trend. Do you think we're ready for the wide leggers again?

Festival Nettie

 I pre-ordered this Desert Blanket Knit months ago and had planned to make something for my daughter out of it. I was picturing a set using this print for a dress and one of the others from the line for pants - to celebrate her first day of preschool. 

The weather reporter said to ditch all indoor plans this weekend, though, and there just happened to be a music festival going on nearby, and some campsites left to rent. Plus we just happened to have picked up a VW camper last weekend and couldn't resist the urge to hop in it and camp. 

And, I needed a dress and fast. So I whipped out another Nettie Hack. 

 This time, I added only 3" to the fold instead of 6. Actually, I made a skirt with 6" added and it was way to full, so I ripped it off and re-did it while the rest of the family grocery shopped. The dress is still a little hip-tastic but I really like the shape of the skirt and the freedom that a knit gives you to crawl around in the grass after kids. 

Next time, I'll narrow the shoulders a bit too, as is customary when coverting a sleeved pattern to a pattern that is sleeveless. Do check out Skirt as Top's lovely maxi dress in the same print. Ooh-la-la!

Joining Frontier Dreams readers today over here. 

Mama Duds and... Did I tell you that I won?

I love tall boots. And tall boots need a short skirt. And a short, high waisted skirt needs a Nettie. 

The skirt was made using Anna Maria Horner's Flirting the Issue tutorial - it's free and it's fast. I made a couple of modifications out of neccessity. I cut just one piece for the skirt instead of two because that was all that I had and I was scared about it being too poofy. Also, I think that I ended up sheering almost six inches off of the length, which was sad because I could have made my daughter a skirt too if I had known that I didn't need even close to the amount that the pattern called for. I also added three lines of topstitching to the heavy bottom hem, hoping to get it to drape well. I have already actually worn this garment, which is a good sign! It's comfy and flattering. I'll be making more. The skirt fabric is Aves Chatter by Art Gallery Fabrics and I snatched it up at Treadle a couple of weeks ago. I think it's voile or a lawn, though I can't be sure but it's very lightweight and soft. And it's weird, I have seen this fabric a bunch online and didn't care for it at all. But the pattern is much more subdued in person and the colors more rich. 

Once the skirt was finished, I realized that I needed a fitted top to make it work. Naturally, I went for another Nettie. Side note, I asked for your vote a couple of months ago during the Nettie Sewalong Contest and I don't think that I ever told you, I won! So, that was way fun... and thanks for your help!

The fabric is a Riley Blake knit that I have made tons of things out of this summer.  I desperately wanted to put elbow patches on it but I resisted. It would've looked weird because of how fitted the top is. Also, I guess that I don't need elbow patches on EVERYTHING. But it feels like I do... I absolutely cannot get enough of that trend. 

That's it! Quick and easy. And now to cut out my Alder Dress...

Blue Bamboo Briar

This post could also be titled "One Trick Pony." I have made a million Briars - like these two, or this pink one. It's true. Like the Flashback Tee pattern, it's my go-to sew when I don't have much time, fabric or energy for sewing. It's a fun, quick project and it always reminds me of why I like to sew for myself. 

Megan Nielsen's patterns are written with the beginner in mind. Plus, she has a whole complement of tutorials with pictures on her blog to help you every step of the way. Can you hear me, local lady friends, who are wanting to get sewing?

This time around I used a bamboo knit from my favorite St. Paul brick and mortar, Treadle. I love a bamboo knit. They are unbelievably soft, stretchy and non-pilling. I've been using it for kids clothes for years and garments made with it have long outlasted the others. You can see a bit of it in purple that I used for cuffs, sleeves and neckbands here. It doesn't curl up on you when you're sewing with it so it's really easy to work with. I would say that it behaves similarly to an interlock knit but I think that it's stretchier. 

I sized up the pattern this time because I wanted the top to be cozy and to slip on over dresses. I added leather elbow patches and cuffs to the sleeves (the pattern calls for folding over and stitching the hems down with a double needle). I left the chest pocket off. 

Have you sewn with bamboo? Have you sewn a briar? Leave a link if you like, I'd love to see it.  

Nettie Part Deux

Ladies all over sewing webland have been stitching up the Nettie.  There have been Netties in stretch lace, Netties for roughing it in the Outback , and a cropped Nettie... 

This Nettie is the first one that I sewed before I made this one. And it turned out to be a totally wearable muslin. The sizing is right on, no need for alterations. I wasn't too sure about the length at first - I tend to like things on the shorter side of above the knee. But I think that the slim fit lends itself to the longer length. 

The fabric is some that I've been hanging onto for awhile and it ended up being the perfect match for this project. It was really a fast sew. The pattern for this version comes with just three pattern pieces (excluding the neckline binding, which I always just cut without a pattern piece). It goes together just like a t shirt would. I used the zig zag stitch on my regular sewing machine and left the sleeves unhemmed. I think that this would make an excellent first sewing with knits project. 

So, now it's time to vote. Will you pick me? The voting is easy - just head over here and "like" your top three favorites. 

And if you're local - will you consider making one? Let's sew some up, and go out! Because you know that I can't head out in this on my own.